Judges and Lawyers Cannot be Friends on Facebook

We never think about the impact of social media on different professions. For some, it is not as simple as we think it is. According to a ruling by the Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee of the Florida Supreme Court, a lawyer who appears in front of a Judge, cannot add him as a “friend” on a social networking website.

Here’s the actual link to the ruling and below are the exact wordings:

Whether a judge may add lawyers who may appear before the judge as “friends” on a social networking site, and permit such lawyers to add the judge as their “friend.”

ANSWER: No.

The other interesting parts of the ruling allows a Judge to post comments on a social networking site and allows lawyers to be ‘fans’ of Judges as long as the fan page is not managed by the judge himself.